Eugenie Scott will present the Hitchcock lectures on October 3 and 4, 2018. The first lecture is titled "Evolution and Creationism as Science and Myth" and is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

About the lecture
In her first lecture, Eugenie Scott will discuss why scientists are often puzzled when members of the public reject what we consider to be well-founded explanations. They cant understand why the presentation of scientific data and theory doesnt suffice to convince others of the validity of controversial topics like evolution and climate change. Recent research highlights the importance of ideology in shaping what scientific conclusions are considered reliable and acceptable. This research is quite relevant to the evolution wars and the publics opposition to climate change, and to other questions of the rejection of empirical evidence.

About Eugenie Scott
Eugenie C. Scott served as the executive director of the National Center for Science Education, an organization that works to keep publicly (though not scientifically) controversial topics like evolution and climate change in the public schools. Her work has involved a mixture of science, communication, religion, education, law, and community activism.